It’s gonna be a long, cold winter until Spring Training starts but HEY MOM, YA WANNA HAVE A CATCH? is the perfect companion to keep your spirits high until the Boys of Summer take to the fields again.

Author, Rob Sheinkopf, has gathered a charming collection of baseball themed vignettes from mostly average Joes and Josephines. Many of these short reminiscings are from long ago and talk about favorite players we only know today by their name or number on a memorial wall: Shoeless Joe, Casey Stengel, Ralph Kiner…oh so many more with fields that are also long gone.

Lovers of America’s pastime will adore this book. There’s no need to read it in a single sitting or in order, for that matter. Each little piece takes only a few minutes; perfect bathroom attendant!

I can think of 6-8 folks who are getting copies for Christmas. Boys, girls, dads, grands and of course, Moms. If your a KU subscriber, it’s your lucky day📚

A strong debut from the rookie author. Reading this book is like watching a ballgame with a whole row of people ready to tell you their favorite baseball stories. Just make sure you’re not in front of those famous Wrigley Field bleacher bums before you start reading!

First and foremost, I highly recommend this book. Any book that can reconnect an adult to early memories of learning a sport from a father or mother will always stir emotions in me. I was fortunate to have a loving, athletic father (and mother) who softly encouraged and supported my sports career. Author Sheinkopf pulled together a collection of these moments from various authors and contributors-from all walks of life. Many poignant stories, including several from Sheinkopf, openly reflect these special moments of our youth. I especially enjoyed the chapters that included our worship of star baseball players of the past. How we placed them on pedestals and saw them on a much higher level than we did our own parents. Only to be reminded all these years later that our parents lived and loved and were our real heroes. I played catch with my dad quite often, he would come home after a long day teaching at the college and without removing his dress shirt, grab a glove and hardball, and off we went. None of the contributors to the book went on to become baseball superstars but found success in education, real estate, research, and other unrelated endeavors. Some worked careers in baseball, and many are published authors in the field. All had unique and touching stories to share with the reader about how baseball was a point of connection to their parents. Often when deeper emotions were not expressed, a simple game of catch filled these gaps. This is a book everyone can enjoy. At a period in time when we cannot seemingly agree on anything, there is baseball. Kudos to author Rob Sheinkopf for allowing this reader a rare reflection of the past that stirs warm memories of my departed father. Maybe the tagline for the book could also be, if you write it, they will read.

What a beautiful collection of stories. Even if you are not a baseball fan, this book connects you to the relationships people have gained through our national pastime.

I am only halfway through this book and I am loving it! As a woman passionate about the game of baseball, reading stories from others who also love the game is heartwarming. That these stories reveal the fans side, family history and or a parent child relationship, adds yet another level of interest.

Really a good read, especially for those of us with a short attention span. I picked it up and read a chapter when I had the time, some were good, most were very good, but all kept my attention, and they all struck a nerve, reminding me of my own recently departed mother… and my childhood. I never knew my father, never played catch with my mother, but I know she supported my love of the Cleveland Indians in so many ways. I recommend this book to middle-age guys like me who love baseball and grew up being an obsessed fan.

I have read a lot of baseball books in my life about teams, players but this is different in a very relatable way with stories about all of us regular folks and the role of parents and baseball in our lives. a lot great stories by people of all ages and backgrounds.

If you’ve seen only one baseball game or you’re a fanatic, if you’re the parent of a little leaguer, or if you enjoy great human-interest stories, “Hey Mom, wanna have a catch?” is the book for you. Forty-nine short stories about the love of baseball, written by insightful authors with tender hearts and edited by a talented writer himself, will immerse you in the lives of people who genuinely love the all-American game. Rob Sheinkopf hit it out of the park with his latest book.

Sheinkopf did an excellent job of Collecting sincere, heartwarming stories about how people got exposed to the game of baseball. He eloquently dug into stories rarely old, and in the process shared the genesis of the games popularity. He did a great job!

Fabulous collection of real life personal short stories relating to how America’s pastime, baseball, has impacted the lives of those who’s parents shared their passion.